Dayton a slam dunk?

DFLer Mark Dayton has a 77 percent chance of winning the governor's race next month, according to Nate Silver, a statistics freak whose blog on political polling, FiveThirtyEight.com, has become a go-to site since the 2008 campaign.

By aggregating polling and using statistical models and demographic data, Silver said Republican Tom Emmer has a 23 percent chance of becoming Minnesota's next governor. Independence Party nominee Tom Horner's prospects are even dinner: zero chance of winning.